A family-run hotel in County Durham - which last year converted a London bus into a double-decker suite - has cemented its reputation for quirkiness with the introduction of eight themed bedrooms replicating everything from a French boudoir to an abode fitting for Captain Cook.

South Causey Inn in Stanley, which turns over around £3.5m annually, was taken over by Philip and Susan Moiser in 2007.

With help from their four children, the couple have since invested significantly in the site, taking bedroom numbers from 16 to 36, while introducing a wedding venue, conferencing facilities and more.

In October 2015, they converted a London Bus into accommodation and, pleased with the response to the move, have now spent a further £800,000 on eight ultra-luxury bedrooms.

Each has its own private courtyard and hot tub, as well en-suite bathrooms with Jacuzzis and waterproof televisions.

When it comes to the decor, meanwhile, ‘striking’ would be an understatement, the range including:

the US-inspired American Trilogy, incorporating lorry and car bumpers, rare Hollywood black-and-white photographs, a propeller, a canoe and an American-themed table hand-painted by local artist Ben Nightingale;

The new deluxe rooms at South Causey Inn each have their own hot tub (Image: Phil Smith Photography)

Mrs Moiser said: “We created our Trafalgar Square room in October last year after being inspired by something we saw in a magazine about how London buses had been used for things like hotel receptions or mobile cocktail bars.

“It was basically scrap. We refurbished it and converted the downstairs into a bathroom and the upstairs into a bedroom and it has been massively successful.

“We had also previously extended some of the bedrooms to include hot tubs and decided to continue that because we had had excellent occupancy.

“If someone is just staying for a quick business trip, they might just want a cheaper room, but if its a couple celebrating an anniversary, for example, they might want something a bit more special.

Hadrian's Villa at South Causey Inn (Image: Phil Smith Photography)

“So we decided to undertake stable conversions to create really lovely themed bedrooms. We’ve been collecting artefacts for a couple of years knowing this may happen.

“People have stayed in the new rooms already and the response has been fantastic.

“Social media is an incredible thing. It was new to me, but the reach it has is amazing; we ran a share-and-win prize competition, which got thousands of hits.

“Like any building project, it was a bit of pain, but now I wish we had another 10 rooms to do, because they’re great fun and the reaction has been wonderful.”

South Causey Inn will be running an open showcase event for the public on September 14.